Turcottenamed SBA Young Entrepreneur of Year

POTSDAM - The U.S. Small Business Administration Syracuse District Office has selected Matthew S. Turcotte, founder and president of North Shore Solutions with offices in Potsdam and Clayton, as the winner of the 2013 SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Nominated by the Watertown Small Business Development Center, the 21-year-old Turcotte was chosen for the award based on his north country companys increase in sales and profits and his demonstrated long-term potential as a successful business owner.

At just 14, Matthew Turcotte developed his first website and hasnt looked back. His web development company, North Shore Solutions, counted his hometown of Clayton, its fire department, and the local opera house as his clients just two years later.

By the end of his junior year in high school, Turcottes business won the top prize at a local business concept competition for high school students and he published his first book, From Main Street to Mainstream, the Essential Steps to Getting a Small Town Business Online.

Turcottes business acumen was recognized with Clarkson Universitys first-ever Young Entrepreneur Award, where he was offered full tuition, office space and mentoring in exchange for a 10 percent equity stake in his business. Turcotte has grown the business tremendously during his time at Clarkson, increasing revenues to six figures, while maintaining a Presidential Scholar grade point average.

North Shore Solutions has expanded its services to offer logo design, web hosting and marketing for clients ranging from 35 municipalities in Upstate New York to small and large businesses as far away as California. In 2013, Turcotte expanded his horizons to real estate and purchased a commercial office building and U-Store of Watertown, a storage unit facility.

Turcotte received the Syracuse District award at SBAs annual awards luncheon on May 6 at The DoubleTree Hotel in East Syracuse.

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